Beyonce Hosts Trayvon Martin's Family At New York Gig

Beyonce played host to the mother and brother of slain teenager Trayvon Martin at a concert in New York City on Wednesday (08Jun16).

The 17-year-old African-American was shot and killed by Neighbourhood Watch volunteer George Zimmerman in Florida in 2012, with Zimmerman's subsequent acquittal of Trayvon's murder sparking a wave of protests across the United States.

Since Trayvon's death, his mother Sybrina Fulton and brother Jahvaris Fulton have prominently engaged in civil rights and anti-gun campaigns.

And the pair have also struck up a friendship with Beyonce, with Jahvaris posting a picture on Instagram of himself and his mother meeting the superstar backstage at the latest stop on her Formation world tour at New York's Citi Field stadium on Wednesday, captioning the image, "Mommy & Me + Bey #formationworldtour."

He seemed to enjoy Beyonce's New York gig, posting another picture of him and his mother at the concert displaying broad smiles.

The accompanying video for Beyonce's latest album, Lemonade, also featured Sybrina and Lesley MCSpadden, the mother of Mike Brown, an 18-year-old shot by a police officer in Ferguson, Missouri in 2014. The two women were shown holding up pictures of their sons.

As well as her tributes to the parents of the slain teens in her Lemonade video, Beyonce also used her slot at American football's Superbowl event in February (16) to include nods to the Black Lives Matter movement and revolutionary 1960s black nationalist organisation the Black Panther Party in her performance of her single Formation.

The Black Lives Matter movement was founded by African-American activists in response to George Zimmerman's 2013 acquittal of Trayvon's murder and unprosecuted deaths of young black men in U.S. police custody.

During her Wednesday set, the singer also stunned fans by pausing before the beginning of her song Love On Top and sneezing into her sleeve. A delighted crowd then erupted with cheers of "bless you," directed towards Beyonce.